Last week’s article explained how God can use evil while not being the author of it. This week’s article explains how this doctrine often works in the case of believers.

The most wise, righteous, and gracious God does oftentimes leave, for a season, His own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon Himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.

Christians who fall into seasons of defeat with a particular sin will often feel that God has abandoned them. They pray for deliverance from their cruel taskmaster, but no relief is given and they consequently feel as if God is standing off in the distance, unwilling or unable to help.

This article encourages Christians in such straits to take heart because all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. The temptations that you are fighting are no exception to that rule; He is using your evil for your good even if you can’t see how.

Often, a believer who is given over to pride unwittingly will also be, by the grace of God, given over also to some more obvious and besetting sin. This sin makes him see his wretched position, which in turn kills his pride. This is but one way in which God can use our sin for our good. As children, we didn’t always understand our parents’ discipline, but it was still good for us. So also we can trust that God is a good and wise Father who knows how best to discipline us.